I personally feel the EFL Trophy should be treated with the contempt it has shown all lower-league clubs and boycotted.

I have a feeling Catlin privately feels the same way!

It’s a complete and utter nonsense and the Blues were against it from the start.

The club, led by Catlin, campaigned against the overhaul of the former Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, which now allows elitist under-23 sides (category one) to feature.

Embarrassingly, though, the primary reason for its creation – a supposed overhaul to English football’s youth structure to develop more talents for the national side – has been undermined completely.

That’s after leading Premier League academies, including both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool, declined to participate owing to scheduling concerns.

Instead, Pompey have the delights of hosting Reading’s youngsters at Fratton Park in Group A of the southern section, alongside the visit of Bristol Rovers and trip to Yeovil Town.

No disrespect to the Royals’ youngsters, who will no doubt be looking forward to playing at Fratton Park, but as a fixture it is about as alluring as that protracted pre-season trip to Burnham.

Any Blues fans thinking their club could use this distraction from a League Two promotion bid as a great opportunity to develop some of their own youngsters – the only possible use for the competition – can also think twice.